Category: Speeches

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment she has made of the consequences for her policies of the introduction of different-sex civil partnerships on the Isle of Man.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The Government has already carried out a consultation on the future of civil partnerships in 2014, and has no plans to carry out another consultation on this issue.

    Following the passage of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, we carried out a full review of the operation and future of the Civil Partnership Act 2004, which included a thorough public consultation on potential changes to civil partnership. Views were invited on three options: abolishing civil partnerships; phasing them out; or extending them to opposite sex couples.

    The review found that there was no clear consensus on the future of civil partnerships. A majority of respondents to the consultation were against extending civil partnerships to opposite sex couples and a significant number of stakeholders thought it was too soon to consider making changes to civil partnerships until the impact of extending marriage to same sex couples is known. Given the lack of any consensus, the Government has no current plans to make changes to the Civil Partnership Act 2004.

    The Isle of Man is a self-governing crown dependency. We are not required to carry out an assessment on their legislation.

  • Anna Turley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Anna Turley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have accessed the Government support package for people affected by the closure of the SSI steelworks in Redcar.

    Anna Soubry

    There are a number of different elements of support for people affected by the closure of the SSI steelworks in Redcar. These include:

    • Redundancy-related payments paid by the Redundancy Payments Service. 1988 payments are currently being or have been processed and the majority of payments made to individuals.

    • A Jobs Fair, which was attended by over 1800 people

    • A Jobcentre Plus helpline, which has dealt with around 4000 calls

    • A support Hub, which has provided a wide range of advice and guidance to over 2000 individuals

    The Government will not impose solutions from Whitehall and will continue to work closely with the local taskforce to deliver the proposals it has identified as having a real and lasting impact. This includes:

    – a £1.7m support fund to enable SSI’s 50 apprentices complete their training

    – a £16.5m Jobs and Skills Fund to help local firms employ former SSI workers or their spouses in full-time or part-time jobs for a minimum of three years

    – £16m support for firms in the SSI supply chain and wider Tees Valley impacted by the Redcar steelworks closure, to safeguard jobs, provide the stimulus to create new posts and provide expert assistance to help them expand their business

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will make an assessment of the effect of replacing the UK’s existing coal fired power stations through a combination of energy conservation, demand side measures and renewable power instead of new gas fired power stations on (a) job creation, (b) carbon emissions, (c) household energy bills, (d) long-term energy security and (e) the UK’s global influence on securing international action on climate change; and if she will make a statement.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Department will be launching a consultation in the spring on the closure of unabated coal fired power stations. This will include an impact assessment, and I encourage the honourable lady to examine these documents when published next year

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in Bahrain; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We regularly discuss human rights and reform with the Government of Bahrain -including at the biannual UK-Bahrain Joint Working Group meeting which was recently held in November 2015. The UK continues to encourage the Government of Bahrain to meet its human rights obligations and to honour all conventions to which it is a party. We welcome the progress made by Bahrain on their reform programme particularly in the areas of youth justice, the establishment and increasing effectiveness of the Ombudsman’s office, the Prisoner and Detainees’ Rights Commission and the reformed National Institute of Human Rights. We continue to work with the Government of Bahrain to ensure momentum and progress on its reforms, for the benefit of all Bahrainis.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of whether common system failures contributed to the deaths of Sam Morrish in Devon in December 2010 and William Mead in Cornwall in December 2014; and what steps his Department is taking to address those failures.

    Ben Gummer

    The Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman’s report into the death of Sam Morrish, published in June 2014, made several recommendations for local National Health Service organisations involved in Sam Morrish’s care to implement. NHS England advises that these have now been implemented.

    We are advised by NHS England that there has been ongoing dialogue with the Sam Morrish’s family, including their full involvement in development of an integrated care pathway for paediatric sepsis, which has been piloted in the South Devon and Torbay area and is currently being evaluated.

    The (NHS England South) Regional Quality Surveillance Group is responsible for ensuring that all the national recommendations outlined in NHS England’s report on the death of William Mead, in December 2014, are implemented.

    The Department will be keeping track of progress on this front.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce crimes against wildlife in the UK.

    Karen Bradley

    We fully understand the importance of tackling wildlife crime. This is reflected in the fact that, along with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Home Office provides specific funding to support the work of the National Wildlife Crime Unit.

    The funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit is in addition to the funding central Government provides to the police in England and Wales to tackle all types of crime, including wildlife crime. Additionally, Border Force leads the operational response in respect of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Summer Diversity Internship Programme weekly training allowance is taxed.

    Matthew Hancock

    We have been working closely with the Civil Service Commission to provide a mechanism for fast tracking those who have been on the internship to the Fast Stream assessment centre, based on positive appraisal of the intern’s placement performance and completion of the initial internship selection testing.

    This initiative is therefore for interns who are successful during the internship programme and we are currently working through the implementation plan.

    In the last 5 years 778 have undertaken the programme (2011 – 73; 2012 – 115; 2013 – 161; 2014 – 173; 2015 – 256), with a further 300 anticipated this year. The estimated conversion rate into Fast Stream is 10-15%. Accurate tracking of success into Fast Stream will be achievable for 2016, using an updated applicant tracking approach.

    A number of criteria are used to measure socio-economic status, however the metric that is now used to designate lower socio-economic background is parental occupation (aligning with Office of National Statistics methodology). This approach is currently under review following a recent social mobility research study by the Bridge Group.

    This internship allowance is taxable and the amount of tax paid will depend on which tax code the intern is put on before they start.

  • Angela Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Angela Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Smith on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people were (a) proceeded against and (b) convicted of an offence under the Deer Act 1991 in 2015.

    Rory Stewart

    The Government is committed to tackling wildlife crime. The UK National Wildlife Crime Unit, which is part-funded by Defra, monitors and gathers intelligence on illegal activities, including those relating to badger persecution and poaching, which are UK wildlife crime priorities. The Unit also provides assistance to police forces when required.

    Court proceedings data for 2015, including those for the offences listed above, are planned for publication by the Ministry of Justice in due course.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the most expensive drugs bought from pharmaceutical companies by the NHS were in the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

    Alistair Burt

    Based on National Health Service list prices at launch notified to the Department between 2009 and 2015 under the rules of the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme and statutory regulations, the 10 most expensive medicines in terms of list price per pack are shown in the table.

    In considering the impact of a medicine, it is important to take into account both the product’s total net costs and the net health benefits it generates.

    Product

    Manufacturer

    Strensiq (asfotase alfa) 80mg injection

    Alexion

    Translarna (ataluren) granules for oral suspension

    PTC Therapeutics Ltd

    Sirturo (bedaquiline fumarate) tablets

    Janssen-Cilag Ltd

    Lojuxta (lomitapide) capsules

    Aegerion Pharmaceuticals

    Provenge (sipuleucel-T) dispersion for infusion

    Dendreon Coporation

    ChondroCelect (characterised viable autologous cartilage cells expanded exvivo) implantation suspension

    Swedish Orphan Biovitrum (SOBI)

    Yervoy (ipilimumab) vials

    Bristol-Myers Squibb UK

    Revestive (teduglutide) injection

    NPS Pharma International

    Kalydeco (ivacaftor) tablets

    Vertex Pharmaceuticals

    Kalydeco (ivacaftor) oral granules

    Vertex Pharmaceuticals

    Source: Department of Health

  • Dominic Raab – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dominic Raab – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dominic Raab on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many threat to life notices were issued to people with suspected links to organised crime in each of the last five years.

    Brandon Lewis

    This information is not held centrally. Where a threat is made to an individual, it is an operational matter for police forces and law enforcement agencies to decide whether to issue threat to life notices, taking account of individual circumstances, to mitigate the risk to potential victims.